Morning came quietly in the village, draped in mist and birdsong. The forest, for all its unease, seemed momentarily at peace. No shadowed figures. No whispers in the trees. Only dew, smoke from cooking fires, and the soft rhythm of footsteps on dirt.
It was a perfect place where one can find inner peace.
Up on the hill where the old ruined shrine was located, now was a temporary home for Fang_Yuan.
Fang Yuan moved through his breathing forms behind the shrine. Slow, deliberate steps. Arms circling. Breath held, then released. He didn't know if they were "correct" by this world's standards—but they were his, forged through fragments of instinct and some deeper, older knowledge.
'I'm pretty sure that this is how they moved' Thought Fang_Yuan as correct his forms
Fire came first.
It was the element he had felt most instinctively—born not of rage, but of resolve. When he'd fought the cloaked man in the woods, it had burst from him like an exhale. Natural. Immediate. But uncontrolled.
Now, it had to be disciplined.
He planted his feet in the stone and inhaled slowly, drawing in the heat of the rising sun. A faint warmth answered from within—coiling behind his ribs, waiting. He raised his right hand and exhaled sharply, focusing not on force—but clarity.
A thread of flame flickered from his palm. Small. Controlled. Like a candle's breath.
He held it steady for five full seconds before releasing it into the air, watching it vanish.
Progress.
Again and again and again.
He kept repeating the process while also creating his new ways of fire release
But as he was busy, with training, he felt something coming towards his way. To be precise, it was someone.
He stopped what he was doing and waited for the person to show up. And it didn't take long for a small kid carrying a basket appear.
"Ren" Called Fang_Yuan as he approached ren
"Hey Yuan, I brought you something to eat"
Without saying what it was Ren handed the straw basket to Fang_Yuan
"Mmh.. Smells good, what's in it?
" stem potatoes covered with honey" With a face that show how proud he was, Ren took out one of the potato's and starting eating it.
"I thought you brought them for me" jokingly said Fang_Yuan as he also took out one
" uhh! I'm just showing you that it's safe to eat it so you don't have to worry about it"
"I see"
"BUT, Say... Why are you sweating? Where you doing something?" Asked Ren while looking at Fang_Yuan
"Ooh this? Yes I was doing some training, training your body early in the morning is always the best way to start your day"
"So wait! Are you one of those guys who can bend?"
"Yes" answered Fang_Yuan while looking at Ren who seem excited by the fact that he was a bender
"Wow that's amazing, can you show me please"
With just a snap of his fingers, a small flame lit up on top of his finger tip, it was just a simple demonstration, but it was enough to make the small boy's eyes spark with joy.
"That's so cool.. Can you teach me how to do it???"
"Well it doesn't wor...."
"REN"
Before Fang_Yuan could even finish his sentence, a loud voice cut him mid sentence. It was the voice of the old man coming from down below the village .
"Coming" Said Ren as he took off running
Fang_Yuan watched as the little boy disappeared from his view
Looking at the straw basket he was holding, he smile and shook his head
'He's too kind for this world'
Those were his thoughts as he took the bucket inside and continued with his training.
He spent the first half of the day focused on fire. Breathing. Flow. Control. He refused to allow it to be wild—there was too much risk. Fire was a language of consequences.
But in the afternoons, when the light shifted and shadows crept low over the forest floor, he turned to the earth beneath him.
Earthbending was different.
It wasn't instinct. It was presence.
The day ended without Ren returning to him. And just like that a couple of days passed.
During that time he continued his training
He would sometime sit cross-legged on the cracked stones behind the shrine and listen. Not with his ears—but with something deeper. He pressed his hands to the ground, breathing in time with the wind. At first, there was nothing. Just silence.
On the fourth day—something moved.
A tremor.
Not loud. Not dangerous. Just a stone shifting slightly beneath the surface. It answered his touch. Tentative. Curious.
He didn't bend it. Not yet. He just thanked it.
On the fifth day, Ren appeared and told Fang_Yuan that the old man said he should stay away from him since he still doesn't trust him, but when Fang_Yuan asked Ren why he came when the old man said not to came. Ren said
"I never listened to the old man" And just laughed.
"I see.. Well I think it best you don't anger him"
"it's okay I know when to stop"
Days kept doing and Fang_Yuan kept training without worries or the fear of being watched. He was cautious.
And the good thing was that the other villagers paid no attention to him.
Only Ren dared approach.
Each day brought refinement.
With fire, he practiced control—tiny sparks from his fingers, then palm-sized flames. Never more. Never beyond what he could extinguish in a blink.
With earth, it was patience. He practiced his stances on the village outskirts, pushing his chi through his legs, grounding himself until he felt the vibration of ants beneath the grass.
On the tenth day, the stone moved for him.
A single rock the size of a coin rose from the soil and hovered for half a breath before falling. The motion left him dizzy, like lifting too much too soon.
But it had moved.
And that was enough.
On the twelfth day, Ren found him building a circle of stones.
"You're making a wall?" the boy asked.
"A boundary."
"From what?"
"From myself."
Ren stared at him. "You really don't make sense sometimes."
Fang Yuan nodded. "Exactly."
"But you remember the promise we made right" Said Fang_Yuan
"Yeah, don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you can use more than one element"
It was too hard for Fang_Yuan to hide the fact that he can use more than just one element to Ren when the all the little kid does was just watching him training all day. So he came with an agreement that he must not tell anyone about it.
On the other hand
The villagers began to accept his presence in quiet ways. A basket of fruit left outside the shrine. Bread wrapped in cloth. Hiko said nothing, but the suspicion in his eyes softened.
Still… the forest watched.
Whatever it was—it had not forgotten him.
But neither had he forgotten why he was here.
Not to conquer.
Not to reveal himself.
But to learn.
The world feared imbalance. A boy bending all four elements would tip the scales. But Fang Yuan was not here to tip them.
He was here to understand them.